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Rep. Kelly Seeks to Renew Funding Ban for UN Arms Trade Treaty in FY 2016 Appropriations Bills

March 27, 2015

90 Members of Congress co-sign letters in support of
Kelly amendments to prohibit ATT funding

WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) issued the following statement today regarding four letters he authored and submitted to the bipartisan leaders of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. Each letter requested updated and strengthened language prohibiting federal funding of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in each of the subcommittees’ respective appropriation bills for fiscal year 2016.

The letters can be viewed here, here, here, and here.

Statement by Rep. Kelly

“The power of the purse is a critical weapon in our fight to stop the ATT from ever being implemented. The sovereignty of our country and the rights of our people are far too precious to be left vulnerable to this dangerous treaty. Especially with this president’s appetite for unilateral, unconstitutional action overwhelmingly clear, our vigilance matters more than ever.”

NOTE: Signatories of Rep. Kelly’s letters include 6 committee chairmen: Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX), Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL), as well as Republican Study Committee Chairman Bill Flores (R-TX).

BACKGROUND:  Rep. Kelly is a national leader of the movement to stop the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). On March 15, 2013, he introduced H. Con. Res. 23, a bipartisan concurrent resolution expressing opposition to the treaty on behalf of members of Congress. The resolution earned 149 co-sponsors in the House and 36 supporters in the Senate.

On May 30, 2013, Rep. Kelly submitted a bipartisan letter with 130 co-signers from Congress to both President Obama and Secretary Kerry urging them to reject the treaty. He sent a similar bipartisan letter to the president following Secretary Kerry’s signing of the treaty on October 15, 2013, which was signed by 181 members of Congress, including multiple committee chairmen. A follow-up letterwas sent to the White House on April, 20, 2014.  

On April 1, 2014, Rep. Kelly authored and submitted four separate letters to the bipartisan leaders of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies requesting updated and strengthened language prohibiting federal funding of the ATT in each of the subcommittees’ respective appropriation bills for fiscal year 2015, including an explicit ban on the use of funds to engage in domestic prosecutions on the basis of the ATT. Each letter was co-signed by more than 80 members of Congress.

On May 22, 2014, the House passed H.R. 4335, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2015, which included Rep. Kelly’s amendment to continue the Defense Department’s ban on funding for the ATT.

On September 5, 2014, Rep. Kelly submitted a letter to President Obama voicing opposition to the planned First Conference of State Parties (CSP) to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) – a UN-backed gathering to shape the future of the ATT – due to its exclusion of any organizations critical of the treaty.

On December 16, 2014, President Obama signed into law the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2015, which includes a ban on federal funding for the ATT’s implementation. The president signed the final version of the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2015 (H.R. 3979) on December 19, 2014, which included a similar ban.

On March 2, 2015, Rep. Kelly sent a letter to President Obama co-signed by 34 new members of Congress elected in 2014 to express unified opposition to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and a firm commitment to deny any federal funding for the treaty’s implementation.

 

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